Just as Justin Verlander pitched the Tigers past the A’s, CC Sabathia proved to be the dominant presence as the Yankees beat the Orioles 3-1 in Friday’s decisive Game 5 and advanced to the ALCS.

Sabathia, coming off a win in Game 1 in which he nearly went the distance, did go nine this time for his first complete game in 17 postseason starts. He finished the ALDS with a 1.53 ERA.

The Orioles never put together a serious threat until the eighth. though they did nearly get a run in the sixth. Nate McLouth missed a homer by inches when he pulled a ball down the right-field line; some are even insisting it tipped the foul pole on the way by, though replays were inconclusive. That would have tied the game at 1.

The eighth was more interesting. Lew Ford delivered an RBI single with one out, and thanks to Sabathia’s own mental error on a comebacker, the Orioles loaded the bases afterwards. Sabathia got out of the inning by striking out McLouth and inducing a slow grounder to short from J.J. Hardy.

Had the Yankees bullpen been better rested, Sabathia almost certainly would have departed then. However, since Rafael Soriano pitched one inning Wednesday and two innings Thursday, Sabathia stayed in. He retired Adam Jones, Chris Davis and Matt Wieters in order in the ninth.

Baltimore’s pitching was, once again, excellent. Jason Hammel allowed two runs and four hits in 5 2/3 innings in his start. The first came after Buck Showalter’s decision not to hold Mark Teixeira on at first base in the fifth, allowing Teixeira to steal second. Raul Ibanez then hit a grounder up the middle that might have resulted in two outs had the Orioles been at double-play depth. Since they weren’t, it proved to be an RBI single.

The Yankees also scored on a Derek Jeter walk and an Ichiro Suzuki RBI double in the sixth and on Curtis Granderson‘s solo homer in the seventh. Granderson went 2-for-3 today after opening the series 1-for-16 with nine strikeouts.

The Bombers will host the Tigers in the Bronx when the ALCS starts on Saturday. With both aces expended, Doug Fister and Andy Pettitte are the expected starters.

My thoughts….CC was spectacular….I was shocked Girardi let him pitch the 9th. That was old school baseball…Yanks offense finally got off the deck enough to get the hits when they needed them….Orioles are very solid. Look for them to be in the thick of it again in 2013…..Finally, I was hesitant about Ripken being in the booth with the O’s playing but he was a pro’s pro. Ripken is pure class….Hope the ALCS is a good as the ALDS was….

Agreed, and I’m a lifelong O’s fan. When Ripken went on a 20 minute tirade about how a baseball spins. I think putting Ripken on the O’s/Yanks series wasn’t the best of choices. However, I think the TBS broadcasts in general are pretty good. Him and Smoltz just sounded like two bitter old men, making Ernie have to just sit and listen to their old war stories.

I swear John Smoltz must be getting paid by the word. He simply NEVER shuts up. And Ernie didn’t help matters by asking John questions that resulted in excruciatingly long, long, long responses. Come on, Smoltz, give us a break and let the action speak for itself.

Great baseball! The Orioles were worthy opponents, and can leave The Bronx knowing that they ‘gave almost as good as they got.’ Because of Balt., CC cannot have two guaranteed starts, and I still believe that the Yanks championship chances went down the drain along with Mariano’s cleat.

Despite the outcome this was a good series. The more experienced team won but the O’s fought hard all the way through. You can’t really ask for much more. The pitching was stellar for both squads. The Orioles need to do better with situational hitting as well as get faster on the base paths. It was said during the telecast (which I agree with), with the O’s not hitting well it really limits what you can do especially when you don’t have speed. You can’t hit and run with your catcher standing on first. And Hardy’s dribbler in the 8th probably could’ve been beaten out if he had more speed (i.e. – McClouth and Ichiro could’ve outrun it). I just hope the O’s address these needs in the offseason because while they did great this year, this years success guarentees you nothing next year.

Interesting critique of the announcers. The comments about identifying the pitch by the size of the thread-circle
was a clear, concise summary of a camp sesion that I paid hundreds of dollars for. One mans trash is another mans treasure, I guess. Got me to thinking. Why not have an alternate, technical broadcast? I’m sure there would be a market or it.

Ripken sounded like he played for the Yankees all his career. Maybe trying not to be to O’s bias but Went the whole other way Horrible.. Maybe The os need to buy a team apparently building one doesn’t get it done then maybe they will Have 15 years in the ALDS Baseball needs to fix this

Hard to imagine that any sport will be able to legislate equality between big and small markets. Player endorsements and lifestyles of rich, young men. Being a star in Baltimore will always be different than being a star in New York, in perception, if not in reality.

im not a yankee fan but stop hating on them because your owner wont spend money. it has been proven that payroll means nothing. giants cards reds as didnt spend that much. even with their payroll missing the playoffs once for tge past 18 years is impressive. they havr what 7 series in there. bigger payroll doesnt mean shit.